Moods
by Gia's Soul
Summary: When you look back at the past, do you ever want to change things? Or are you happy with the way things panned out? Tyson's POV


**Gia's Rambling's: **I'm paranoid and a perfectionist. That's all there is to it. So here's the re-vamped version...I actually think Tyson- Mariah is a nice pairing, maybe because its different and oddly…cute.

**Disclaimer:** I'm not sure why I even bother…its obvious by my bank account that I don't own it.

_**Moods**_

Do you ever get into these…moods? When you don't want to move forward just yet. You just want to sit, reflect on things…Think about the past instead of the future. I'm not like that very often, I always want to just get on and do things. But sometimes…just every now and again, I actually want to sit back and go "Hey, how in hells name did I manage to get here?"

Today is one of those 'thinking back' days. And the object of my memory is now happily sitting with her legs draped over my lap, eating my danish as she reads a magazine. Her name's Mariah, but you all know that, you've seen her on posters and in the paper. But you haven't seen her like she is now, like she is with me.

I remember the first time we talked…really talked to each other. It was a Saturday and, as usual, I was the last one up. Now, that wasn't unusual in those days; but for some reason I felt really left out when I got up to an empty cabin that morning. I wasn't hungry or anything…which was really, really odd.

The guys left me a note to let me know where they had gone. Kai had disappeared before daybreak; Max had gone off with Emily somewhere and Rei was with Chief looking for Beyblade parts. That left me. Alone.

This is a bit nostalgic, but I'm kinda glad they left that morning. I'm glad no-one was there when she came by; because realistically, she wouldn't have spoken to me if Rei had been there to lend his shoulder.

"Where is everyone?"

I answered her in a grumbled, aggravated sort of way, opening the door as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I must have offered her tea at some point because I remember spilling boiling water over my hand like the klutz I am. She saw my hand when I gave her the tea and acted all concerned and clucky, forcing me back into the kitchen to run it under cold water. I think that was probably the very start, when I began to think of her as an actual person instead of 'Rei's friend.

She actually tended to my hand the whole time she was there, getting ice so we could sit at the table and talk. She told me that she and Lee were arguing again, about everything an anything that occurred around them. So he was all aggravated and twitchy around her now. I scoffed at this and informed her that Lee had always appeared a little aggravated and twitchy to me, so I didn't quite see the difference. She must have taken this more as a question than an insult to her captain, because she went on to explain that he usually wasn't so bad, when you knew him.

Over the next hour or so she did most of the talking, very odd for a motor mouth like me. She told me about all the uncomfortable situations she gotten into by ranting and raving at Lee. Little things that the team used to do now felt really tense. Like training; she couldn't even train properly without Lee getting annoyed at her about something. He was constantly agitated around her, snapping at her without much warning or reason.

"He'll get over it…I just needed someone to talk to you know?" He did get over it all...eventually.

I told her that I could sort of relate, that while I hadn't refused to date my captain (I got this mental image of Kai on one knee with a rose between his teeth then and nearly died) I was usually seen as the bratty annoying one who ate to much and slept to late. She just laughed at me and changed the subject.

We didn't stop talking until around 2 in the afternoon when Rei and Chief stumbled through the front door, arms piled with boxes and bags or 'stuff'. After the initial shock that I was up at all, the attention shifted to my companion, who was smiling lightly and playing with a strand of her hair.

"Hey Mar, how long have you been here? Did you need something?"

Right, so I know he wasn't addressing my incompetence or anything like that, but for some reason I was pissed off at that comment. It was like he was telling me I couldn't take care of anything that came through the door without some form of help.

"Well, yes, but its ok, Tyson took care of it." She smiled at Rei, a sort of catty grin that said 'we know something you don't know!'

After a moment of light conversation she said she better go and I demonstrated my extreme hospitality by showing her to the door. As she was leaving, I thought of something I thought was important and called after her.

"Don't let Lee give you any trouble." She had looked over her shoulder at me and laughed, giving a small wave and disappearing down the stairs.

I remember this explicitly, the way her hair had moved as she hopped down the stairs, the sound her shoes made on the wooden veranda of the cabin. I though she was 'pretty' for the first time. Our contact didn't stop there though; she actually called me a few days later, and we started a sort of 'phone friendship'.

Over the next week I baffled everyone with my brilliance, I got up earlier than usual. I don't know why…but I just forgot the reason why I slept so much in the first place. Then, the real drama started. One day I got up and thought 'hell, why don't I go for a run or something?"

So I did, I went running in the park close to the cabins. After the first few times it just kinda became a habit. Get up, run ,shower, food. At first, it only took a few minutes for my breathing to falter and my legs to burn, but gradually, I got better at it. There wasn't actually any reason for me to be running, I just thought it was a good idea at the time, but it was amazing just how much those runs actually began to help me. I didn't need to sleep as much, and my appetite de-creased, leaving everyone both worried and intrigued. For about three weeks Kenny insisted I was ill and Max even went so far as to suggest a doctor, which I refused in a very polite yet menacing manner.

My attention span managed to increase ten-fold and I trained harder, even managing to impress Kai slightly (at least…I think he was impressed when he nodded slightly in my direction after I pulled a cool move…) Speaking of Kai, he actually began warming to me a little. Eventually he started running with me in the mornings before disappearing in the opposite direction when I turned back towards the cabins…I mean, we never talked, neither of us could really be bothered talking. Running was kind of like a time to just think. Finally, my natural curiosity got the better of me and I asked Kai were he went in the mornings when I turned back. Kai actually smiled at me a little, and even went so far as to somewhat answer my question.

"I go to meet someone"

Eventually, after a few weeks of me verbally assaulting him with questions, Kai told me about the girl he had met a little while ago on the European tour. He explained how she had moved here to America with her family because her mum had got a 'dream job'. How when they first met, he hadn't really considered her to be anything more than an acquaintance until he had left and realised that for the first time in ages he actually missed something. He missed her. So he had called her, and now that she was here he had been seeing her for about a month, enjoying the time they had before he had to jet off for another tournament.

Of course, after this brilliant confession, he did the very something very Kai and jogged away, leaving me standing there, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my stone cold captain had just confided in me about something he didn't want others to know.

I didn't see Mariah again until two nights before we were meant to leave America, when the White Tigers came over for a 'good luck' party. The main reason for their appearance on our doorstep was mostly due to Rei's guilt. He hadn't spoken much to any of his ex-team members while we had been on break, and was successfully trying to rectify this with free food and drinks. The White Tigers were more than happy to oblige.

I remember that night was when Mariah had started looking awesome in my eyes. When she got past Rei at the door, she happily made her way over to me and bear hugged me. Then talked to me like I was her oldest and bestest friend. I was blushing and baffling my way through the conversation like a 4 year old with a crush. It was just the way she looked, her hair was down, and she seemed to have made a conscious effort with her appearance. It was my first revelation-point on Mariah.

I wanted to kiss her.

We sat out on the veranda, our legs dangling between the posts holding up the banister; sipping those little cocktail drinks with the umbrella's in them. We talked about everything, anything, and nothing. I had never found it so easy to talk to someone for so long without any awkward silences. Eventually, with the sun peeping over the trees, Chief emerged from the cabin, yawing as he rubbed his neck. He informed us that most of the others were out for the count and Kai was missing.

Then he shocked me. He asked me if he should be worried. Chief was asking me for advice? I shrugged and told him not to bother (insanely proud that I hadn't fainted with surprise) that Kai was probably fine. I didn't mention that I had seen him slip away with his 'French Girl' at around 10.

Seeing as the White Tigers had happily made themselves comfortable in our cabin and showed no signs of leaving, Mariah ended up staying the whole day with me. It was nice, we went walking around the park and found the hill with the best view of the lake. After sitting there for a while, Mariah decided to demonstrate just how insanely immature and carefree she could be.

I never expected her to drop to the ground and roll down the hills slope like I used to when I was little; and I never expected to be following her lead. Honestly, I didn't realise what I was doing until I was dizzy and laughing so hard it hurt. Sprawled out on the grass, Mariah turned and smiled stupidly at me, giggling like a mad woman.

I remember leaning over and prodding her side to see her reaction, it was always something Gramps had done to me when I was little and had made me laugh every time. She stifled a giggle and jolted away, yelping at me not to do that again. I didn't listen. I was never very good at doing what I was told. I poked her again, and she wriggled further away from me. Pfft, like that was going to stop me now that I had learned she was ticklish. So I did the only logical thing in a situation like this…

I jumped on her, in a very cat like fashion might I add, and had her squirming in fits of laughter in seconds. When I finally stopped my siege, I smiled down at her and rolled my eyes; informing her that revealing such a weakness as ticklishness was pure stupidity around me. She responded in the oddest way anyone has ever responded to anything I said.

She kissed me.

Now, when she pulled back I was at a loss for anything to say; and instead of being worried or slightly unnerved by my lack of reaction she just smiled and poked my chest accusingly.

"I like you" I managed a lopsided grin and kissed her again since I couldn't yet form anything intelligent language wise. She didn't say 'I love you' and I didn't attempt to say it either. I didn't even think of it actually, because I honestly didn't love her at that stage.

When did I start loving her? I don't think there was an actual definitive moment; it just sort of seeped in and infected me. Like a fungus or something, an extremely pleasant fungus that I didn't want to get rid of. We agreed not to tell anyone about this relationship-like thing just yet, considering we weren't exactly dating, dating…more just together.

Mariah realised that not many people on her team would take the news all to well, so she slipped back with the White Tigers in late afternoon, pecking me on the cheek as she left and promising she'd call me as soon as she could get hold of a phone. Unfortunately, being the motor mouth I am…I had to tell someone. So I told Kai, he had trusted me with his relationshipy thing so I felt obliged to do the same. I told him about the next morning, breaking the unwritten rule of no talking while you run. For a while he was silent; and I wondered if maybe he had either ignored me or just didn't care. I was wrong on both accounts. When we stopped to go our separate ways he turned to face me and offered a half smirk.

"Good"

It was around this time period that I realised how completely clueless my team could be. It took Mariah and I walking through the door hand in hand with her wearing my shirt for them to notice anything was up. Well, no, that's a lie. Max was the first to notice, and he just grinned stupidly, muttered something to the effect of 'knew it' and turned back to the TV. The issue seemingly settled in his mind.

Rei was the next to spot something amiss, he stood there for a moment in shock before Chief came in, glanced at us, and instructed the baffled Rei that he owed him twenty. Mariah huffed at his gob-smacked face and managed to ask what was so astounding with narrowed eyes.

"I couldn't think of two more different people."

I suppose that's why it worked so well, the fact that we're so different, we have things to fight about, and nothing gets boring. She sees me in a different light to most people, says she likes my hair the way it was, likes my goofy smile and the 'squiffy' way I walked.

Sometimes I have wonder what would have happened if I hadn't been alone that day. Mariah probably wouldn't have looked at me as she came in, seeking out Rei. But I was alone, and she did come to me, and now she's finished with my danish and her magazine and is watching me curiously.

"Hey" Her eyes are still that ruby sort of pink, that unusual colour that is so enthralling. "Something wrong?" I smile, shake my head and reach out to her, pulling her onto my lap.

"No…" I mutter quietly "Just having one of my moods."

* * *

**Right…well, there you go G-o. Its not the best, but I feel better about presenting this to all you lovely fanfic readers now. Toodle-pip.**

**- Gia's Soul **


End file.
